SAMADHI(Med 90)

SAMADHI(Med 90)

Swami Chidananda

The yogi attains a state in which through the intensity of concentration, he acquires the ability to hold the mind perfectly still. That state is called ‘Samadhi’. It is a state of deep inward absorption when the mind is perfectly collected and calm, samyak dharana. This state of holding the mind perfectly is samadhi. Through constant practice and through perfect establishment in vairagya, we reach a stage of deep absorption, and this deep intense absorption is called samadhi. Samadhi is the eighth stage in Raja Yoga. It is only a stage in Yoga. Samadhi itself is not Realisation. It does not mean that a person who has attained samadhi is a realised sage. He has to proceed further. This state of perfect absorption need not necessarily be a state of transcendental Illumination. As you go on persisting on this practice of samadhi, you will attain Illumination. It takes you to the highest state of superconsciousness and transcendental Illumination where you get the final Liberation. When you rise higher, even the consciousness of your being lapses into the experience of Cosmic Consciousness. That is perfection of spiritual realisation.

Samadhi is not peculiar to Raja Yoga alone. Jnanis speak of Advaita nirvikalpa samadhi. Hatha-yogis have got their samadhi through the union of prana and apana, and forcing it through sushumna. Devotees refer to as going into bhava-samadhi. The jnanis meditate upon the nameless and formless, transcendental Atman. And it is the totally impersonal samadhi that is attained by him. There is not the least trace of the meditator’s personality.  The meditator’s personality is completely wiped out. In the process, the knower, the object of knowledge and the process of knowing, this triad is eliminated. When there is no knower, there is no question of knowing. There is only one thing is left: Whatever is That alone exists. This highest transcendental Experience is Existence-Absolute. They call it Advaita nirvikalpa samadhi, where the knower, object of knowledge and the knowing process lapse into a transcendental Experience, which cannot be described. Because who is there to describe It? When you break a pot filled with water, the reflection of the sun in the water of the pot gets absorbed in the sun. Similarly, when there is perfection of divine life, the personality of the devotee is completely absorbed in the Lord.

In Bhakti Yoga this nirvikalpa samadhi comes as a result of darshan (glimpse) of the Lord. The devotee when comes face to face with his Ideal, then the process of dissolution of his personality starts. Gradually, his personality becomes thinned out and ultimately the Ideal alone remains. They call it ‘Sayujya’.

When one reaches the ultimate Realisation in the depth of samadhi, he is free once and for all. There is no pain or suffering, and no craving. He reaches a state of plentitude where is there is no more desire.